At the Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual Show 2018

THE Hong Kong High-End Audio Visual Show 2018 is a different cup of tea from most other hi-fi shows I’ve attended. Yes, it showcases just about everything you would expect to see at such an event – hi-fi, AV, headfi, and bargains on media (LP, CD and SACD) and accessories. But I didn’t see any traditional hotel rooms.

The show was held on Aug 10-12 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, so it was just a big hall and a handful of function rooms, located across two floors. To replicate a closed space, rooms were “built” along one area of the hall, and I was surprised at how some exhibitors elicited great sounds from their equipment in these makeshift areas. I was there on the first day of the show as a guest of Sony, which had, a day before, held the global launch of its DMP-Z1 media player, and IER-Z1R, MDR-Z7M2 and IER-M9/7 headphones. Sony’s booth included a simulation of a passenger airplane’s seats, where you could be seated comfortably, look out a “window” at the sky and clouds, and test its noise cancelling headphones. Certainly a novel concept.

Across other areas of the floor, turntables of all varieties, speakers of all types and exotic amplification ruled the roost… and I even spotted the occasional open-reel deck!

So, without much ado, here are some photos of the hi-fi exotica I caught there, either in action or static display.